Vet-Advantage: BLOG UPDATE

Canine Influenza Virus (CIV) — in particular, the H3N2 strain that made national news during the 2015 Chicago outbreak — is making big news again. The AVMA reported that, “In May 2017, canine H3N2 influenza was diagnosed in dogs in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, and Illinois.” As of June 30, 2017, CIV had infected, “More than 82 dogs in Florida, killing at least four of them, and had temporarily closed both a leading Orlando shelter and an unidentified boarding facility,” according to an Orlando Sentinel news report. Click here to Read More.

When surveyed practices were asked, “[Have you] implemented changes in the last 2 years to reduce stress for cats?”… 24% said, “No, but we intend to,” and 35% said, “No we do not intend to.” That’s a total of 59% who hadn’t implemented change to reduct stress - a major barrier to visits.

In addition, when asked, " Has [the] staff been trained to make cat visit less stressful?"... 31% of the survey participants said No. To address these issues, the team behind the Bayer study recommended that practices follow four main strategies to reverse the trend of low feline visits. Click here to Read More.